Kindred Spirits Read Online Free PDF

Gabe asked.
    “Four,” Troy said. “I took down the Jedi Council. Time for a little midday siesta—the Force
asleepens
.”
    It was the warmest day yet. Elena wondered if she could take a nap too. Maybe not. It seemed even weirder to be asleep on the street in the middle of the day than at night.
    “You hate the prequels more than anyone I’ve met,” Gabe said, licking his thumb. “These cupcakes are really good. You should tweet about them again.”
    “I don’t hate the prequels,” she said.
    “We ranked our top thirty characters, and the only prequel character you listed was Queen Amidala.”
    That was the only prequel character Elena
knew
. . .
    “I mean you must really
hate
them,” he said.
    “All right,” she said, “I feel like I owe you a debt, after you helped me last night—”
    “You do,” Gabe said. “Not quite a life debt. But I did save you from peeing your pants
twice.
”
    “So I’m going to tell you a secret,” she said. “But you have to promise not to use it against me.”
    Gabe reached over Elena’s legs to get another cupcake. “How could you possibly have a dark secret involving the Star Wars sequels? Are you responsible for Jar Jar Binks?”
    “Do you promise?” she asked.
    “Sure, I promise.”
    “I’ve never seen the prequels.”
    “
What?
” Gabe spit crumbs all over both of them. Elena shook them out of her ponytail. “How could that happen?”
    “It didn’t happen,” she said. “I never saw them.”
    “Was it against your religion? Are you some sort of Star Wars purist?”
    “Sort of,” Elena said. “My dad was. He wouldn’t let me see them.”
    “Did he lock you in a tower?”
    “No. He just told me they were terrible. He said they’d . . .
corrupt
my love of Star Wars.”
    “And you never thought of watching them anyway?”
    “Not really. It’s my
dad
.”
    “How does he feel about the sequels? Are you here undercover?”
    “I don’t know,” Elena said. “I haven’t heard from him.”
    Gabe looked confused.
    “He’s sort of in Florida.”
    “‘Sort of in Florida’ is our band name,” Gabe said.
    “Don’t tell Troy,” she said.
    “I won’t. He’d probably make us watch them all on his phone.”
    Elena looked down. “Now you’re probably thinking that I really am a fake geek girl.”
    “I try not to think that about anybody,” he said. “If anything, this makes you an uber Star Wars nerd. A Star Wars hipster. You’re like one of those people who only
listens to music on vinyl.”
    “Do you think I should watch the prequels?” she asked.
    “How would I know? I mean, I’d watch them. I couldn’t know there was more Star Wars out there that I hadn’t tapped. You could have double the Star Wars in your
life.”
    “Did the prequels corrupt your love of Star Wars?”
    Gabe gave her a very Han Solo-like grin. “It was already corrupt, babe.”
    They both laughed. This was not the Gabe she’d been sitting next to for two days.
    “I don’t know,” he said, more seriously. “I saw the prequels before the original trilogy.”
    “What?” It was Elena’s turn to be shocked. “That’s all wrong. That’s a perversion.”
    “It is not!” Gabe said. “I think it’s how George Lucas intended it. It’s the higher order.”
    “George Lucas doesn’t even know what he intended,” Elena said. “He can’t even decide who shot first.”
    “I saw the prequels in the theater,” Gabe said. “When I was a kid. I thought they were awesome.”
    “And now?” she asked.
    “They’re my first love,” he said. “I can’t be objective.”
    Elena hugged herself. “I don’t think I’ll ever see them. I feel like I’d be letting my dad down. Like he’s going to show up some day, and ask whether I’ve
seen
Attack of the Clones
, and if I say yes, he’ll take off again.”
    Gabe looked like he was thinking. “So . . .” he said, “you won’t mind if I spoil them for you.”
    “I guess not,” she said. “I mean, I